>> hello and a very warm welcome to the journal here. in berlin, this is what's making news at this hour. >> two car bombs have exploded in a turkish town near the border with syria. the interior ministry said 18 people were killed and 22 injured. suspicion has fallen on syria where turkey has been supporting rebels in the two-year long civil war. however there has been no indication of its involvement. violence has marred

parliamentary elections in pakistan. twin bombings hit the financial hub of caratchie not long after polls opened killing at least 11 people. th pakistani taliban claims responsibility and warned people not to vote. the eu's chief observerer said things ran smoothly. >> i think if i compare the preparations of the elect ral with last time five years ago we see considerable improvements. >> the party of former prime minister shar reef looks likely to win the most votes but the race is close. former cricket star's party got a late surge in polls. many stations have stayed open past closing time. pakistan's election commission estimates turnout could reach 60%. >> former egyptian president has appeared in court to face a new trial.

he is accused of being complicit in the murders of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ousted him. a court last june had convicted him and sentenced him to life in prison but he was granted a retrial on appeal. he faces trial along with his two sons and a number of his security officials. german president is on a visit to colombia parted of a nine-day tour of latin america. he spoke about the need for a sec rillation between leftist guerilla's and victims. e president said the origins in communist east germany gave him experience with reconciliation. colombia's government has been in talks with militant rebels since last october. two astronauts at the international space station are on a six-hour space walk to fix the leak in the ship's cooling

system. crews discovered the leak when they noticed white ammonia floating outside. nasa says the space walk is unprecedented because it was planned on such short notice. >> more news at the top of the hour so don't go away. >> welcome to our review of the week's top business stories. shares continue to rise at the frankfurt stock exchange. solid earnings from some of germany's leading stocks this week sent it to an all-tie high in its history. it reached a record close of 8, 278. the previous record set in 2007 became history after the fall of lehman brothers. the weak recovery fell victims to the euro zone's debt crisis

and only now recupid earlier losses and hit a new high. the strong numbers come after they announced a cut in key interest ratesdzlat week meaking it cheapor for investors to get fresh cash. >> interest rates are low and the money is being reinvested in stocks. >> germany is not an exception. equity markets in asia have also been surging to record highs thanks to monetary easing by central banks. but it's wall street that is leaving the global -- leading the global rally. the dow climbed above the 15,000 mark for the first time this week. >> and here's a review of the week's trading action at the frankfurt stock exchange. >> merely every day of the week the german stock reached another all-tie high and even though trading lost a bit of

steam late friday afternoon trading it ended the week on a very high level with a weekly gain of around about 2%. the continued bet on low interest rates and generous monetary policies all over the world is one reason for the rally on the stock market but that's not all. in the course of the trading week positive economic data was reported from several places of the world. chinese exports rose significantly. here factly orders came in better than expected as well as industrial production numbers and in the united states positive updates were reported from the housing market and from the labor market. adding to this were several earnings reports from companies which managed to beat market expectations here in germany companies like alians, deutsche tellcome and others beat expectations with their first quarter earnings. >> german flag carrier

luffthansa has embarked on a restructuring course. the airline is slashing thousands of jobs as part of its cost-cutting efforts. fees and taxes are rising. operations are expensive as are new planes. and they need to buy a lot of them. in comparison to rival fleets, luffthansa is relatively old and guzzle more fuels with older models. shareholders are unhappy and have been lashing out at management. >> competition is getting tougher all the time and that's left its mark on our figures. i'm not even going to try to paint a rosy picture. our results are quite simply inadequate. this isn't sustainable. >> members of the board are joining the cost-cutting drive with a 5% cut in their pay.

until the end of next year. >> germany's largest phone company has reported a drop in first quarter sales and earnings. its profit fell more than 4% to 4.3 billion euros between january and march. they face increasing competition from rivals and have had to spend a lot on marketing to hold on to its market share. also investing billions to expand its network. >> california based electric car maker tess la has announced its first ever profit. a modest net income of just over 11 million in the first quarter. they said it sold 4,900 of its coveted model in the first quarter which exceeded expectations, regarded as the gold standard is respected for its style, power and efficiency but high delvement coveses have led to losses in the past.

>> strong u.s. sales and a weaker yen helped japanese car maker toyota more than triple its earnings. posted a profit of almost $10 billion. the bank of japan efforts to weaken the yen have helped exports. toileta exports some 60% of its -- toyota exports some 60% of its vehicles made in japan. >> after a long spell of disappointing figures there's good news. exports rose 15% in april. the solid data points to an economic upturn. the chinese economy is growing relatively slow. sole lar panels have long created problems for european manufacturers. up to 45% cheaper. as a result china now controls

around 0% of the european market. now the eu is reacting with plans to impose tariffs of around 47%. beijing says that's a mistake. >> handling trade friction we hope both sides can uphold the constructive and cooperative spirit and properly resolve differences and disputes through constructive dialogue and negotiations. we also hope the eu is cautious in its use of trade protectionism measures. >> the tariffs are due to come into effect in june and are initially set to last until december. by then the european commission hopes to have completed a probe into allegation that is china s providing illegal subzizz. many europeans have given up hope of finding a job. the youth unemployment rate continues to climb especially in southern europe.

a growing number of young people have been out of work for more than a year. >> many young people are migrating looking for opportunities in other countries. those that stay and cannot get a job there are lessons, for them getting a job inside or outside the country decreases. >> the international labor organization warns that the crisis could create a generation without work experience. the bleak outlook is reflected in the latest youth unemployment data in the u.u. in greece 59% are jobless, in spain nearly 56% of young people are out of work. more than 26% youth in france are looking for a job. much less but still high in comparison in germany only 7.6% of young people are unemployed. the un experts are calling for

change. they are opposed to more austerity measures and favor increased investment without perspective for young people they say the future of europe s in jeopardy. >> the world trade org organization has chosen its first leader from latin america. a career diplomat. for years he served as his country's representative and understands that it's currently difficult to push for free trade agenda. >> we are at a critical stage. the negotiating pillar is completely stuck. there is a scleer paralysis in the system. >> the u.s. which has considerable clout in the organization opposed his candidacy. the same goes for the eu largely because he locked horns with washington over subzizz to u.s. cotton farmers and with brusselses over agricultural subzizz. he pointed out these kinds of

trade barriers hurt emerging and developing companies. his supporters come from brazil, russia and china as well as south america and africa. he spent months finessing his candidacy. now he'll need all his powers to build consensus. the wto's director general has few direct powers. he has already vowed to remain nbiased in the post. >> the life in the capital tie pay appears to be set by the green running man on the city's traffic lights. with more than 6 million inhabitants the me troplass never comes to rest and maintains a huge appetite for energy. power is provided primarily by oil and coal imports. they are expensive and lead to energy dependency and pollution. the government wants to change that by investing in green

energy. >> we have to use energy more efficiently. and support renewable energy to limit co2 emissions. we want to see 1,000 wind turbines both on land and offshore operating here by 2025. we want to expand sole lar energy. >> taiwan plans to invest more than $15 billion euros in wind power alone. these wind turbines were all manufactured abroad by companies such as german wind power specialist one of the market leaders in taiwan. >> we are now carrying out our yearly maintenance. we thoroughly clean the electronics and then the mechanical parts. the wind from the sea is rough on the turbines. it takes us three or four days. >> at the same time, the latest software is installed to keep the turbines running

efficiently. wind power is still in its infancy in taiwan. little more than a splash of green color added to the large scale of the power plant where energy is mostly produced with natural gas and oil. wind power accounts for just 1% of taiwan's power supply so there's plenty of growth otential for renewable energy. >> the government has a renewable energy plan. and there are enormous opportunities for german companies in the area of wind power both onshore and off. it's a different story for sole lar energy because germany is no longer a major supplier of solar panels here. they now come from china where the taiwan knees buy them directly. >> the portuguese once named taiwan the beautiful island. green energy could help taiwan live up to that name. it could also help fill up the

books of germany's wind power industry. that concludes our review of the week's top business stories.

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